Nine months ago the conversation around fracking was relatively new in Colorado and few people and environmental groups were directly addressing it. Now, nine months later, very much has changed—fracking is in the news constantly, many environmental groups are engaged in the fight to stop fracking and the issue is escalating wildly throughout the public across the state.

What has changed in a mere nine months?

First, the threat of fracking has increased dramatically across the residential areas of the Front Range of Colorado. The Niobrara Shale geological formation underlies much of the landscape from Fort Collins all the way around suburban Denver and 150 miles south to Colorado Springs. The advent of horizontal drilling and horizontal hydraulic fracturing technology has allowed hundreds of thousands of acres of land to be leased and eventually fracked. Much of this land is squeezing up against suburban homes, neighborhoods and even schools, and those residents are speaking out in an increasingly feverish pitch. In fact, one of the biggest segments of the population speaking out as “fracktivists” is suburban mothers. And as we see in many types of politics in a purple state like Colorado, when suburban moms take up an issue, elected officials really start to pay attention.

Second, a few activists—in part let by retired U.S. Environment Protection Agency “whistleblower” and Gasland movie star Wes Wilson—started touring the state giving dozens and dozens of presentations to local government officials, local homeowners groups and local activists about the threat of fracking. These activists spent hundreds of hours (and miles) pressing the case that fracking is a serious concern, and left unregulated, fracking could turn many suburban communities into mirrors of Weld County, Colorado (in the northern part of the state) which has more active oil and gas wells (more than 18,000) than any county in the U.S. With those wells has come health problems, air quality problems, water pollution problems, water supply problems, social problems, real estate problems and financial problems. No surprise, but this exploitative extractive industry tends to take the oil and gas—as well as all of the money—and leaves local governments and people with pollution and financial trouble in its wake.

Third, a small band of fracktivists in Longmont, Colorado, in part led by a very small contingent of activists from the environmental group Food & Water Watch, made national news when they led a successful ballot initiative to ban fracking in the November 2012 election. This ban occurred with almost no financial backing (less than $20,000), with almost no support from other environmental groups, and through the sheer grit and moxy of its leaders. Further, the Big Oil and Gas Industry spent more than a half million dollars trying to defeat this ballot initiative in a town that cast only 42,773 votes—that’s more than $10/vote. And when the vote was final, the result sent shock waves around the state. Longmont is not a raging environmental hotbed—if a ban could pass in Longmont while being outspent 25 to 1, it could likely pass in nearly any city in the state.

Finally, Colorado’s Governor, John Hickenlooper (a former oilman), has become a lightning rod who has rapidly escalated the tension around fracking and infuriated local residents and environmental activists. His anti-environmental, pro-fracking actions—too numerous to count and catalogued elsewhere—include starring in a radio ad for the natural gas industry and recently boasting to a U.S. Senate committee that he drank fracking fluid because it is safe and risk free. Every time he speaks about the issue, he just makes it worse both for him and for the issue—his disrespectful and demeaning attitude towards environmentalists seems to be closely matched by his reckless deception of the public. It’s gotten to the point where the best way to fight fracking in Colorado is to just give the Governor the microphone and wait for him to say something inappropriate and further infuriating.

Nine months ago there was little support for banning fracking in Colorado, and there were hardly any organized groups willing to take it on. Nine months later, the situation has completely changed. Cities like Fort Collins are making clear that it makes no sense to put a ban to a vote when it is almost assured to pass, and so therefore a smart and progressive council has the obligation to pass a ban with a simple ordinance. Further, more than a dozen small ad-hoc “fracktivist” groups have sprouted up around the state pushing their local governments hard and publicly. The group that led much of the fight in Fort Collins is Frack Free Fort Collins, while some of the names of other groups around the state have been more creative like Erie Rising (in Erie, Colorado) and The Rio Grande Watchdogs (in the Rio Grande valley).

With fracking, threat has bred opportunity, and democracy has come alive in Colorado. While it’s profoundly unfortunate that thousands of homeowners are now threatened with the impacts of fracking, it’s also deeply important and powerful that these same homeowners and suburban moms and dads learn how to be active and informed citizens in our democracy. Not only the promise of democracy—but the responsibility of democracy—is becoming real to thousands of people who just a year earlier were likely focused on normal suburban activities.

The Big Oil and Gas Industry doesn’t care and will say and do absolutely anything to anyone in order to increase their short-term profits. But the citizens of Colorado—at least in Longmont and Fort Collins, so far—do care and are learning that they don’t deserve what they’re getting, so they’re fighting for what they want.

Comments

Larry A. Powell

Wow, This article is both informative and encouraging. We need to continue the awareness of this horrible process of fracking which is destroying the earth. When the environment is ruined, how much money oil company s have will not make any difference.
Thanks to all the people who help to continue this fight.

Mary Petty

I could not agree more Larry A. Powell.

David Rhodes

Informative and encouraging?

I suggest you do some actual research on the completion practice of Fracing and maybe you’d realize that there are thousands of wells within the Greeley area that have been completed using that technology over the last several DECADES.

I haven’t heard of anyone in Greeley having their water ruined, have you? Surely all these topical “experts” you are so enamored with would be able to produce some evidence of it after it has been going on for such a long time, no?

Time to open your eyes and leave la la land.

Thanks!

V Appalachia

Large scale, unconventional HVHF shale gas wells have not been around for “several decades.” The first of this type of well, which is what activists want to ban, was fracked in the Marcellus Shale in Washington, Co., PA in 2004 or ’05. Are the older wells to which you refer vertical wells? If so, we’re talking apples and oranges here.

Statistics from the PA Dep’t of Environmental Protection document violations in HVHF wells in the Marcellus Shale related to cement well casing failures at a rate of 6% to 7% in the first year a well is drilled. Industry leader Schlumberger’s textbooks document failure rates of cement casings at 40 % after 10 years; 60% after 30 years. Your industry is counting on having moved on in 10 years and no one, especially policy-makers, being able to tie the damage to their activities.

If we haven’t heard of water being ruined in Greeley, Mr. Rhodes, perhaps people haven’t spoken out in public, or the industry has worked out some very strong non-disclosure agreements.

Brightfishes

And surely — even though water and air quality — are at stake here, you realize that the farmers who have worked so hard in the region are being outbid for water at every turn! They can’t stand up to big oil and gas when it comes to expenditures http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/us/struggle-for-water-in-colorado-with-rise-in-fracking.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Because the water in the Greeley city area comes from uphill and not from wells, it isn’t impacted AS MUCH as the water from wells. But the toxins that are emitted from the wells when they are punched in escapes into the air, then drifts onto the land and into the water you drink. Most water systems are only test for coliform and other common contaminants. Have you tested your water for Benzene and other chemicals? Your city doesn’t do it either. Might want to check.

Jodee Brekke

Hey David,
Check your facts. Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing is a fairly new technology. Yes, there have been other types of fracking done for DECADES, just not this type.
And yes, there have been plenty of instances of contamination. http://WWW.Fractivist.com.

http://www.LandAndWaterUSA.com Roni Bell Sylvester

I don’t who you are David Rhoades, but you shine out as one of few who obviously embrace science and facts over emotion.
Thank you! You’re spot on.

http://grassrootsenergynet.blogspot.com/ Ceal Smith

Nice overview of Colorado’s fractivist movement! It’s worth mentioning that fracking has been an issue in the state for more than 10 years. Communities on the Western slope (La Plata, San Juan, Garfield, Gunnison Counties) were the first hit. Citizens in Saguache County (the San Luis Valley) fought and won a federal lawsuit preventing drilling/fracking in the ~80,000 acre Baca National Wildlife Refuge from 2006-2010. The county passed what at the time were the most stringent oil and gas regulations in the state. Around 2010-11 natural gas drilling activities spread into El Paso County/Colorado Springs, then Huerfano County (Shell Oil), Routt County, Delta County/North Fork Valley and more of the Front Range communities (towns like Erie and Greeley have had oil and gas drilling/fracking for much longer). While there is no official statewide group, many of the grassroots citizen groups have been sharing information, strategy and, when possible funding resources through the GrassRoots EnErgy activist Network (GREEN). You can learn more about GREEN on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grassrootsenergynet, and here: http://grassrootsenergynet.blogspot.com/

Gerry Seger

I contacted several people in Fort Collins and in Huerfano County, Spanish Peaks with my story of Methane Gas Poisoning, if anyone else needs the info will be happy to send it to you. They tell you Methane Gas is not Toxic, but my Toxicology reports states it is: [email protected] Gerry Seger, Michigan

Gary, we are organizing an anti-fracking local group in Allegan County, MI.

Have you had any contact with No More fracking/Michigan?

Does your health permit you to speak at meetings? I also sent you a more details e-mail post in case tis one doe not find you.

Donna Allgaier-Lamberti
Pullman, MI 49450

Gerry Seger

No, I can’t speak at meetings,I am too ill for that. I don’t believe I heard from you, try again and I will send you my story. I will look up your group on the Internet. [email protected]
Gerry Seger, Michigan

c shatter

I, too live in Michigan – the Water Wonderland. Let us hope that Michiganders will tand up for their rights to clean air, water, land and health. I hate the thought of oil companies ruining our majestic natural lands.

David Rhodes

Thousands of wells have been fracture stimulated within a half hour drive of Denver, in the midst of subdivisions and entire communities.

That started decades ago.

Please educate yourself on what you are preaching on. It’s sad to see good, clean, american industries and jobs targeted by incompetence and ignorance.

DougA

I sure hope you are getting paid well by the Gas and Oil industry , otherwise you’re just a damned fool

c shatter

Amen. You will cry when your children & grandchildren don’t ha ve clean water to drink and they have terminal diseases. Geeez…How do you sleep at night?

Gerry Seger

Mr Rhoades, Yes, Fracking has been going on for many, many years, I was on a drilling rig about thirty years ago, BUT it was straight core drilling with NO toxic water used, the land around the rig was completely dry, I have a few pictures of it. When this new type of Toxic Hydraulic fracking started was after Bush/Cheney wrote and signed the 2005 National Energy Policy that opened the door to this toxic fracking and Cheney also added a clause in the Policy that water did NOT have to be protected. Please got to PA and see the people dying who are living on fracked land, ask my family and friends about my life of HELL that they see my suffer with. People on fracked land have toxic water, their land/soil is toxic, the air is toxic. If you would like to trade shoes with me and live my life of HELL, I would be more than willing to do so, to have my health back. Do not accuse people of ignorance and incompetence when you have not walked in their shoes, or when you have not researched fracking. Cornell Veterinarian College tested animals in six states. These animals died within four hours of drinking the toxic waste water bubbling up at the well site. Look up “Fracking across the United States, click on each skull and cross bone and read about the toxic wells. I will be happy to send you some material and my story and after you read it and my diagnosis then ask yourself, if this the future life you want for your family, relatives and friends? [email protected] Gerry Seger, Michigan

V Appalachia

Conventional, vertical gas wells have used fracture technology. These wells have not caused the problems and concerns that accompany HVHF unconventional shale gas wells in use today. Lumping all fractured wells together just serves to confuse the issue, and an uninformed, unengaged public is essential to the fracking industry’s ability to continue.

The promise of gas industry jobs is a carrot-and-stick tactic that will be effective only until the last uninformed person gets informed.

http://EcoWatch Kim G

Fort Collins had a good microbrewery when we visited a few years ago. Microbreweries need good water. Fracking and microbrewing don’t mix!

http://www.grandmasthinking.blogspot.com Barbara Boyce

Best Dang News I’ve had all week! Rock On, CO!

http://www.NorthernLightsBookstore.com Susan St Clair

Thank you Ft Collins for taking a stand to protect our water and our community! Northern Lights Wholistic Bookstore

James Banks Sr.

I used to work in the oil fields of Texas and Wyoming. I worked for an oil fracturing company. With todays technology and ways of getting oil out of the ground there is little chance of ruining our ground water. The oil and gas that is pumped out of the ground is just as natural as the soil in your yard. Most of the problem here is the environmentalist who are usually extremists. We all drive cars,ride buses, and use other items that are petroleum based. It’s time we rely on our own resources instead of foreign oil. The oil that is extracted is usually several hundred or thousands of feet below any water table, Your sewage, and septic tanks are far more dangerous then the oil being extracted. Before one spouts off at the mouth, go look at the facts on both sides. These environmentalist have already ruined our timber industry, and the mining industry, and the fishing industry. Now they are going after our oil industry! If they keep it up, we all will be back living in caves and wearing animal skins and walking. There wont be any cars,trucks,buses,planes or trains. Is that what you want?

V Appalachia

Should the sewage in my septic tank come in contact with the aquifer that provides my drinking water, it will not permanently contaminate the water supply. The salts, VOC’s and radioactive elements brought to the surface by fracking will have much more long-lasting effects, whether they enter our water supplies from below, though well-casing failures, or from spills on the surface.

When your industry is finished exploiting—at the expense of the American taxpayer—every last drop of fossil fuels, I don’t doubt they will by then have secured rights to our shared water resources as well. Their business model for their stockholders will then involve selling water to us at a premium.

c shatter

It surprises me that you call it “our oil industry” Do you really think the oil billionaires consider you their partner? It is time we move away from burning fossil fuels to run our cars, busses, trains, etc., and we need to tell our elected officials that’s what we want.

Fred No Phelps

But what about Oil and Gas companies and their “rights” to destroy our air, water, soil, health, and future?

Good work, Fort Collins!

Dave Kisor

Here in Hawai’i, they are doing dirty geothermal, want to frack, but want to sneak it in by calling it enhanced geothermal. Remember how waterboarding wasn’t torture when it was enhanced interrogation? Watch out for those enhancements!

“Look—we can’t pass an ordinance banning fracking—every community that has is getting sued!”

It might look that way—but in fact, not a single, rights-based ordinance has been attacked by the drilling corporations.

The communities being sued for their attempts to regulate or prohibit gas drilling and fracking are the ones that adopted non-rights-based ordinances. They base their ordinances on state regulatory law and receive the blessings of municipal solicitors that the ordinances are legal. And when the corporations sue, the laws are stacked on behalf of the corporations: violations of their constitutional and civil rights. The corporations win. The communities lose.

In contrast, the communities adopting rights-based ordinances ground those ordinances in community rights to local self-government, the rights of natural communities and ecosystems, the right to water, and the rights of community members over corporations.

What happens if a corporation were to sue a community that has adopted a rights-based ordinance? Rather than arguing over Municipal Planning Code law and the violation of a corporation’s rights, the battle would be over democratic local self-governance.